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2000 Gallon Tanganyikan Project

53K views 105 replies 60 participants last post by  h0nkzz 
#1 ·
I'm in the process of building my new house and I'm going to build a +- 2000 gal concrete tank with 3 glass panel. The tank dimensions are 20' long x 5' wide x 31" high. The glass panels would be about 32" high and all of them have reinforce concrete/steel frames on all 4 sides

heres a simple illustration of what the tank construction looks like



The tank is goin to be on one side of the wall in my family room


and this is where the tank construction is at the moment




 
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#5 ·
FedEXguy said:
Awesome. Just awesome. What are you thinking about stocking it with?
I have now some Gibberosa Moba, a bunch of Cyp Jumbo Kitumba, Alto. Calvus and alot of shell dwellers.
I will eventually get a colony of Tropheus Ikola in it too.

I have seen this mix goes disastrous in my tank. Calvus kills shellies, Moba eats Cyps etc...
BUT i'm hoping i can get away with all that with a tank this big *fingers crossed* :D
 
#13 ·
Longstocking said:
Very cool good luck with it. How have you decided to deal with the humidity?

The mix should work in this size of tank... sure, some cyps will get eaten but they should spawn enough to keep up.
I'll install an exhaust fan or two above the tank area and hopefully that should take care of the humidity
 
#15 ·
I'm curious why you didn't leave the formwork on longer? From the dates of the pictures, it looks like you only left it on two days! Where I come from, we leave concrete formwork on for a minimum of 7 days, preferably 28 days. The concrete will be more true to form and stronger if left in formwork to cure.
 
#16 ·
28 days, our foundation only had its frame on for 6 days.
28 days is fully cured for a foundation it can be taken off awhile before then. 1 day is ok for what he did. :)
 
#20 ·
I will be glad to hear all the details about your project because I have wish to do something like this in future.
How is with insulation of reinforced concrete? Will you have to insulate reinforced concrete and how will you do that or there is no need to do that?

I will cross my fingers to wish you good luck at your project.
:popcorn:
 
#25 ·
h0nkzz said:
If you notice, only the non-load bearing formworks are taken off. All the formwork that supports the weight are still there. Reason is concrete should cure faster when its exposed to air ??
Exposing concrete to air can actually stop the curing (aka hydration) process, resulting in concrete that never reaches it's strength potential. You can speed up the curing process by raising the temperature, but you must do so in a controlled environment, and provide extra water as hot concrete is thirsty concrete. In the south, you'll see builders water concrete slabs with sprinklers or cover with burlap to ensure the mixture is getting enough water to finalize the crystallization and get the engineered specified strength out of the material.

I'm not a structural engineer, and I won't even begin to predict whether or not that structure will support all the water, etc... I do work in the professional construction industry. If I saw that concrete pour on my job, I would ask for a re-pour or a second and third certified inspection. But here in the states, labor, materials, and risk are probably a lot more expensive than in Indonesia. Maybe it makes sense in your location to just fill it up and see. If it fails, just rebuild! My educated guess is you'll end up with anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 the strength of that concrete. It may not really matter as most of the forces are handled by the rebar, but you should understand the risks you've taken and anticipate responses.

And yes, even here in the states, builders are way more careless with things like foundations and retaining walls. It's because on a structure so large, over-designed, and designed with the intention of sloppy curing/formwork practices, that it doesn't really matter. So if you house is built on foundations that cured for 6 days or whatever, I wouldn't worry too much. What makes me worry about this pour is that those beams and slab appear relatively thin, and are supporting a huge load. If you or the builder designed the structure using rules of thumb, I'd be extra cautious. If you had a structural professional design it, ask him/her to take a look at the pour and ask if he/she designed enough strength to compensate for abbreviated curing.

I think most people familiar with this forum and community have witnessed another large concrete project fail(link?), so I'm only trying to provide a word of caution. Because I look at concrete pours on a fairly regular basis, I've seen many pours fail inspections, have to be torn out, and re poured.

Again, really not trying to be negative or condescending. I'm just looking at a few images that make me nervous.
 
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